SCHENECTADY -- The mother of ex-Schenectady police officer John Lewis has been charged with using her work computer as a state parks police dispatcher to search out information about people involved with her son's criminal cases, according to authorities.

He said Lewis, 62, had been the subject of an internal investigation for the past several weeks. She was suspended without pay on July 8, Keefe said.

Saratoga County District Attorney James Murphy said Friday that Frances Lewis is accused of using State Park Police computers to access records about matters not related to police work.

"We believe she has made more than just one entry," he said, adding that the crime is punishable by up to four years in prison per entry.

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert Carney said Lewis is charged with using the computer "to find information about people connected to some of her son's cases." It's unclear if she may have been running background checks or license plates.

Her status was not immediately available.

On July 9, John Lewis pleaded guilty to a felony computer-tampering charge as part of a plea bargain to resolve several other state and federal criminal charges against him. The 41-year-old Lewis will receive a year in jail when he is sentenced Sept. 3.

He could have faced considerably more time behind bars considering the 10-count indictment related to the computer trespassing allegations charging him with eavesdropping, stalking, aggravated harassment, computer trespass, and computer and witness tampering. Authorities said he used a former girlfriend's computer to hack into his ex-wife's e-mail accounts in 2008.

Additionally, Lewis indicated his intentions to plead guilty to driving while intoxicated for an accident in the Ellis Hospital parking lot in January. Once that happens, he will be sentenced to a year in jail, to run concurrently with the computer tampering sentence.

The plea deal also covers the criminal mischief, assault charges for allegedly beating up his new wife, and a federal indictment connected to his alleged possession of a firearm that once belonged to a fallen Schenectady police officer who died in a car crash while on-duty in 2004 for which Lewis will likely receive an additional 10 to 16 months, according to his attorney, Michael Horan.

In April, John Lewis was fired from the police department. He has been arrested seven times in the past two years on domestic and drunken-driving charges. He remains jailed.

Paul Nelson can be reached at 454-5347 or by email at pnelson@timesunion.com.